When a whole culture commits suicide, those holding the gun may imagine a future, but the victims of that “suicide” know better: dead is dead.

Those of you who are a certain age might recognize the little cultural reference in my post title. It’s the theme song from M*A*S*H:

Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see

That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

At an individual level, I don’t know whether suicide is painless, never having tried it myself — and never having spoken to those who were successful in their efforts. I did read recently that even assisted suicide isn’t as painless as its promoters promise, but that’s not actually what this post is about….